April 20, 2018

on: April 20, 2018

Gospel: Jn 6:52-59
The Jews were arguing among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus replied, “Truly, I say to you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. “My flesh is really food, and my blood is truly drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood, live in me, and I in them. Just as the Father, who is life, sent me, and I have life from the Father, so whoever eats me will have life from me. This is the bread from heaven; not like that of your ancestors, who ate and later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever.” Jesus spoke in this way in Capernaum when he taught them in the synagogue.

Reflections
SOMETHING LIKE SCALES FELL
FROM HIS EYES
This experience of Saul that transformed him to Paul is a moment of conversion, a moment of revelation, a moment of truth. And having been confronted with the truth a persecutor becomes a disciple. Can we recall a similar experience when our preconceived notions or biases fell like scales from our eyes and gave us a different, a new way of perceiving the world around us? Then we realize that “radicals,” “communists” and “rebels” were people of flesh and blood who have ideals and have a genuine concern for their country. We stopped thinking that nobody will be saved outside the Catholic Church. We saw the gems in other religions and the innate values of our indigenous culture and beliefs. We realize that diversity is something we should not only tolerate but actually celebrate because it adds richness to life and widen one’s horizons. We pray that, if there are still scales covering our eyes, these, too, may fall to give us a clearer vision of life.